Safety is of the utmost concern in many occupations and sporting activities. In occupations and sporting activities where flying debris and fluids may contact an individual's face, a face shield is often used to protect the face of the individual wearing the face shield. A variety of known face shields are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,816 to Webb et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,974 to Olim, U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,653 to Landis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,178 to Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,528 to Burke, Jr. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,419 to Russell, U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,060 to Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,223 to McCausland, U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,390 to Desy, U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,808 to Landis, U.S. Pat. No. 7,490,359 to Landis, and U.S. Pat. No. D361,160 to Russell, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,816 describes a face shield pivotally mounted upon a mounting band which is formed for snap fastening to snap fasteners found on conventional safety helmets. The shield has an integral latching tab for releasably latching the shield in a vertical position before the wearer's face.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,974 discloses a face protector having a flexible headband and a transparent flexible shield of sufficient size to protect the face of the wearer. The shield is sufficiently flexible and easily deformable to match the shape of the user's head. Fastener means carried by the headband and by the shield releasably fasten the band around the head of the wearer and also releasably fasten the shield to the headband. The fastener means are deformable to match the shape of the headband and to match the shape of the shield.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,653 shows a surgical style face mask which inhibits the passage of fluids between the periphery of the mask and the wearer's face while providing enhanced comfort to the wearer. A single pair of ties may be used to secure a mask to the head and face of the wearer. For other applications, a mask may be secured to the head and face of the wearer with a double pair of ties or four surgical tie strips. In other applications, a mask may be secured to the head and face of the wearer with a continuous loop of resilient material. Fluid impervious flaps are included to extend the coverage area of the face mask and improve the fluid seal between the periphery of the mask and the face of the wearer. The fluid impervious flaps also allow reducing the amount of filter media associated with each face mask while maintaining the same amount of effective filtration area and breathability.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,178, a disposable face shield assembly is illustrated for the protection of the eyes and face of a wearer. The shield assembly includes an elongated, semi-flexible head support strip divided into four foldable segments. A rectangular, semi-flexible, transparent protective face panel is affixed at its upper edge portion to an intermediate face panel support segment of the head support strip.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,528 discloses a face shield for protecting a wearer's face from spatters. The shield includes a flexible, transparent portion sized to cover the face and a flexible spacer portion for contact with the wearer's forehead to provide adequate clearance of the transparent flexible portion away from the wearer's face. When worn, the flexible spacer portion substantially completely seals the top portion of the shield to prevent spatters from reaching the face from the top, that is, through the portion occupied by the spacer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,419 shows a face protector for shielding the face of the wearer while permitting observation and pivoting of the shield toward and away from the face. The face protector includes an elongated flexible band of absorbent padding sized and adapted to be fitted about the head. Stiffening members are spaced apart and connected to the band when the band is fitted about the head. A flexible transparent face shield is connected to a stiffening member along its length.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,060 describes a face shield assembly to protect the wearer from contaminants and airborne particles. The shield assembly includes a visor having a head-engaging band and a forwardly extending bill portion which, in the preferred embodiment, defines a light passing area which in the preferred form comprises a plurality of apertures. The band carries attachment means in the form of outwardly extending studs which engage arcuate slots and apertures in the transparent shield. The transparent shield is fabricated from a flexible plastic and is spaced from the face of the wearer and extends above and below the visor for protection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,223 discloses a face shield that includes a headband with an inner surface and an outer surface, first and second ends, and a visor between a portion of the inner and outer surfaces. The visor tapers from a maximum width at the midpoint between the first and second ends to a minimum at a first point spaced a distance from the first end and at a second point spaced a distance from the second end. A flexible fluid impervious transparent cover is removably attached to the outer edge of said headband. The flexible cover can be readily removed and replaced if damaged.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,390, a disposable face shield having an attachment mechanism for securing a band to attach the shield to a user's face is disclosed. The disposable face shield includes a flexible transparent member having opposed slits therethrough. The slits are disposed on an upper portion of the transparent member. An elastic band having a width greater than a length of the slits is looped through the slits. The slits are arcuate which allows the ends of the band to be removably and adjustably disposed through the slits. A flexible forehead support member is provided on the upper portion of the transparent member to nestle the shield against a user's forehead.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,808 describes a visor-type face shield for dentists. The face shield includes a visor portion and a shield portion coupled to each other by a first pivotable connecting means and second pivotable connecting means. The visor portion includes a visor assembly having a visor member and a forehead member, a visor first extension, a visor second extension, and a band, which is coupled with the visor first extension and the visor second extension by the band first connection means and band second connection means, respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,490,359 discloses a face shield which protects the face of the wearer from debris and/or hazardous materials. The face shield utilizes a two-piece tiered structure with a canted retention frame joined through an inclined structure member to a shield frame member, below which is retained a transparent shield, and above which a minishield. The shield frame member is retained forward of the retention frame member so as to retain the peripheral portions of the shield separated from the face of the user, providing improved ventilation and reduced fogging of the transparent shield.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D361,160 shows a face protector with pivoting face shield and stop.
There is a continuing need for a face shield for protecting a face of a wearer from flying debris and fluids. Desirably, the face shield may be used for both medical applications such as dentistry, and non-medical applications such as hazardous materials handling and sporting activities, and may be worn under conventional equipment such as hats and helmets.